mama Tag

Do you wonder what this lemon quote actually means and how this relates to your own life????

The truth is this pearler of a quote was mentioned to me the other day by a good friend pertaining to my own personal situation at present. I found myself thinking WTF??? Lemons? Lemonade? Before I could break it down she was off!

This is how I relate to this…

Lemons are equal to fuck wittery people, situations and events. So what you need to do is accept this and turn it into your gold…a positive…yea take a negative work with it and turn this into a positive. How does that sound to you? YES? In agreement! Good!

Recently I won an award. I received the silver Ausmumpreneur award for network excellence. Meaning I have strong ability to connect with others through Kat & Fox, sharing ideas, offering support and collaborating…are you clear? GOOD.

This was such a great experience I got to spend two whole days with extraordinary women/mums in business who all have a passion to make a dream come true and make a difference with what they are created. The strength I felt in those two days was indescribable, a world away from school runs, nits and tantrums. This was a chance for me to be me. SO life was great, Kat & Fox steaming ahead kicking goals and a clear future was evident for me. I made new connections and even discussed the opportunity for my next collection and book, found ways to add more meaning to the brand…my mind was buzzing I felt truly on fire. UNTIL…

A massive bloody lemon was chucked my way the day after my win….

I left for the awards, a mother, a wife and business owner. I returned a mother and a business owner…BIG LEMON! So when curve balls or lemons are thrown your way you fall, you fall hard, well I did and now two weeks later I am starting to work on making the lemonade. I honestly believe even though my life has been turned upside down, and my brain is like the slime we make for our little ones I am free and I even see a glimmer on the horizon.

So now off I go to squeeze the fuck out of my bucket of lemons and make some damn fine lemonade!!!!

About the Kat & Fox founder

Kat is an Illustrator, entrepreneur, blogger, interior/textile designer, visual arts teacher and above all mother to three crazies. In her whimsical humorous way, she explores all topics related to the many sides of motherhood and parenting little angels on her blog.

If you would like to keep up to date with the latest news, freebies and content from Kat & Fox, be sure to sign up to our E Newsletter. Don’t stress we won’t bombard your inbox with a thousand and one emails but we will be sure to keep you informed!

Aahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! ‘ SCHOOL DRESS UP DAYS ‘ we all remember them fondly as kids but now as mothers those words strike panic and fear in our hearts.

Last term it was the school sports colours day. Achievable if your child is in Blue or Red house but a bloody nightmare if your little darling is in Yellow or Green house because the latter are just about never in fashion and deservedly so. You might find something from the 80’s at the op shop if you’re lucky. Then again you might be popping an adult’s size 18 tee on your 6-year-old and calling it a dress. That’ll do…get out the door we’re late!

My son Harrison in the final creation Wheres Wally style!!

This term however it’s the ‘Where’s Wally ‘ walk-a-thon day where you guessed it, the kids have to dress like Wally. There’s a reason he’s called Wally and it’s all to do with his horrid fashion sense! Needless to say, you aren’t going to just stroll into Kmart or Target and find a red and white striped long sleeve tee sitting there at the right price to be worn once by your darling child.

The quickest mum off the mark shoots off to Vinnies the day the costume announcement is made. She finds something if not a little large but it fits woopie! Too bad if you’re one of the parents of the rest of the 800 kids at school all looking for a costume in the same country town.

Some are lucky and have Nannas who can knit up a beanie overnight, many don’t.

The experiences…

A good friend of mine experienced visiting seven….yes SEVEN Op shops and still coming out empty-handed. The most amazing thing is that she managed to do this with her winging 2-year-old in tow…OMG, I feel she deserves a fricken medal!!!

With regards myself, as sick as a dog, I sewed a beanie and painted red stripes on a white shirt during my lunch break after chugging some cough syrup to wash down my flu meds and multivitamins.

In conclusion…

We can all tell you where Wally is…he’s at the bloody Nut-house visiting all the mothers that have been driven bonkers trying to dress their kids for ‘School dress up’ days.

Seriously schools, can we have Homer Simpson as a mascot please because we can all do a white tee and blue jeans and hey, no one is going to complain about the doughnut thing… everyone loves a good doughnut!

I will say that the schools have managed to get one ‘School dress up’ day right; PYJAMA DAY. No arguing with the kids to get dressed 500 times, no hunting for lost socks, no waiting for the dryer to finish of the uniforms you forgot to put in last night. Just get them out of bed, shove their Uggs on and push them out the door with a piece of Vegemite toast. Done. Why heck, I’ll even get onboard and take them to school in my own PJs, why not?!

Ahhh, stress freeee……

Signing off ……

Added comment by Kat

Love this blog post thank you Pinky!!! Another idea being is to befriend the mothers who have the natural passion and ability, unlike myself.. l’lI admit this is where I am at for dear old ‘SCHOOL DRESS UP DAYS ‘. Here is the secret: the offer is given to take on creating the costume for your child as your child is the best friend of their child and their child will not dress up unless she matches my child!!!! Very grateful to my dear friend Amy for this!!!!

Little Miss Foxy and her BFF love being Wanda!!

Let us know your experiences of school dress up days in the comments below……

About the Guest Author

Pinky is a textile and graphic designer…She is currently setting up her own small creative business ‘Crafty Possums’ where she hand dyes her own yarns and screen prints fabric offering wondrous crafty activities and supplies for kids young and old….

About the Kat & Fox founder

Kat is an Illustrator, entrepreneur, blogger, interior/textile designer, visual arts teacher and above all mother to three crazies. In her whimsical humorous way, she explores all topics related to the many sides of motherhood and parenting little angels on her blog.

If you would like to keep up to date with the latest news, freebies and content from Kat & Fox, be sure to sign up to our E Newsletter. Don’t stress we won’t bombard your inbox with a thousand and one emails but we will be sure to keep you informed!

Recently when I was in Melbourne I attended a networking event. Here we were attentively listening to Nic from The Mama Sorority when suddenly a high pitched siren was affecting the focus. I realised that it was, in fact, coming from the handbag on the floor in front of me. As the mama in charge of said bag sunk her hand in to locate the culprit, a light bulb went off in my head for my next blog post. With this idea set, I met so many wonderful working mums and they were more that willing to scatter the contents of their bags on the floor for me to examine.

We carry these bags as statement pieces and we stuff them with so much crap… How many of you have found yourself sinking your hand into the depths of your bag desperately trying to locate your car keys only to find, lollies, tissues, toy cars? TBH at times, I can be so impatient I literally tip it onto the pavement to the amazement of people passing by and I don’t give a S*#t…

With all this in mind I would like to introduce you to four such women, all Mama’s two who like me have their own child-focused brands, one nearly there and one taking a break from her fast-paced marketing career to focus on family.

Prue Henschke and her handbag

Well me I’m a mum of two super energetic boys – aged 3.5 years and 16 months. My day job is as a lawyer and I write/blog for fun. Through my blog, I’m hoping to inspire mums to prioritise taking care of themselves – a personal challenge of mine and it seems lots of mums.

Since having children, big handbags are a must for me! I always seem to be given rocks, sticks, pine cones or toys my eldest swears he’ll carry but are passed off to me as soon as we leave the car/house.

The super bag

The few toys I have in my handbag are for those times I’m out trying to play grown up at a cafe and the boys are bored of playing with napkins, teaspoons and menus.

I have used the same style of pocket calendar for years but rarely use it now. I have no social life! The earphones are for talking on the phone (I worry sometimes about frying my brain) and listening to podcasts (one of my favourite forms of me-time). The sunnies are new but I’ve opted for less expensive ones than I’ve had in the past because if I’m honest I take appalling care of them.

Pinky Wittingslow and her handbag

I work from home as a textile artist whilst juggling mumming of two cheeky cherubs. My handbag is simple with a strap long enough to sling over my head and wear crosswise for those 200mtr toddler-weight-lifting school bell dashes. The weathered brown leather matches my trusty well-loved utility boots great for the workshop, studio and playground.

A bag so well loved..

My two-year-old potters around the studio with me or enjoys trips to The Hardware Store (note bolts) to gather supplies for making whatever craft tool I’m building that day. We do stop by parks randomly for nature walks…note the acorn my son smuggled in there. He’s only just cleared his pebble collection out. Tiny toys mean we have little friends to play with wherever we go.

an assortment of fun…

Sam Baker and her handbag

Life is crazy busy as a mother of two and working as an online lecturer in marketing from home. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my handbag is a well-worn vintage Louis Vuitton. Stylish but has certainly seen better days….a bit like its owner.

An aged Loui V

The contents reflect my daily life and I like to cull to keep things to a minimum. My favourite perfume Aerin Lauder, my phone, purse and makeup bag. Just the essentials. The colourful heart is a note for Mother’s Day from my son.

Leanne Scaffaro and her handbag

Who am I? A busy working Mama who co- run’s a buisness with my friend Katie where we seek out unique, on-trend Australian made/designed baby items to gift loved ones in beautiful branded gift boxes.

I was very fortunate to have been given this beautiful handbag from my brother, all the way from his holiday to Spain. The style of my bag pretty much sums me up. I love a bit of style, but classy and sexy fashion.

Sexy Spanish bag…

Of late since starting our business I have learnt to carry around my phone charger and these days my phone goes flat so quickly from constantly working from it. I also have a protein snack in my bag and I am totally OBSESSED with the bounce ones. Got to have my water bottle with me and the essentials and a meditation cd to help calm the mind every now and then ✌🏻

Try to make time for meditation…..

As sexy sassy modern mama’s our handbags become our lifelines…

I’d like to ask you if have any of you funny stories pertaining to your handbags? Like carrying around smelly nappies for days as you feel embarrassed to deposit them in your friend’s bin or eating half an apple and using your beautiful Chanel as a bin and being so busy you forget, one week later finding a strange smell emerging from the bag? Sounds familiar?

We would love to see your pics and hear your stories pertaining to handbag nightmares so comment below!

About the Author

Kat is an Illustrator, entrepreneur, blogger, interior/textile designer, visual arts teacher and above all mother to three crazies. In her whimsical humorous way, she explores all topics related to the many sides of motherhood and parenting little angels on her blog.

If you would like to keep up to date with the latest news, freebies and content from Kat & Fox, be sure to sign up to our E Newsletter. Don’t stress we won’t bombard your inbox with a thousand and one emails but we will be sure to keep you informed!